SINGAPORE— Mary-Sophie Harvey, a vibrant human who at 25 had never won an individual gold medal at a true best-on-best competition, was recently sleeping in her car so she could swim.
Her pool in Montreal had been closed and Quebec City had the nearest pool she could swim in. She drove three hours, each way, but sometimes she would sleep in the car. She’d eat there. On the coldest nights, she’d find a friend’s couch.
And on Monday at the world aquatics championships in Singapore, Harvey shook off a disappointing semifinal swim and held on for bronze in the 200-metre individual medley, 0.06 seconds ahead of 12-year-old Chinese phenom Yu Zidi.
It was Harvey’s first individual medal at a long-course world championships. Until six weeks ago, the 25-year-old from Trois-Rivieres, Que., hadn’t won a Canadian race at the trials. She has fours tattooed on her forearm for all her fourth-place finishes: two individual events in Paris, several more at short course championships, some in relays. But she didn’t quit.
“It has been really, really, really challenging, and at times I was wondering if I was gonna have a good meet here,†Harvey said.
She still has the 400 IM to swim here, and one thing she has loved in training under difficult circumstances is finding the little moments: maybe her freestyle, her breaststroke, her backstroke, her butterfly. The little moments.
“I mean, I don’t think anyone that is still swimming at my age is gonna be like, ‘I’ve loved swimming my whole entire career,’ †Harvey said. “I don’t think it’s true. If there’s someone out there that’s 25 and they still love it as much as I used to, I would say, ‘What’s the secret?’ But, honestly, it comes and goes, and I think it’s just embracing when it’s not necessarily going your way, finding other things to make you grateful for what you’re doing.
“I think it just shows that throughout adversity, if you keep showing up, you’re going to be rewarded by the end. And I think it’s really exciting, because I feel like this is an off year for me, and stepping on the podium on an off year, I’m just excited for the rest where my pool is going to be open and I’m going to be in better condition. And I think it’s exciting for the three years ahead.â€
At the national trials, Harvey said swimming was so peaceful for her: an escape from the world. She still loves pushing herself, the grit of the sport. But the peace is one thing that keeps her swimming.
“There’s problems outside of swimming, you know, life problems. And I can swim, shut down all of those negative thoughts or things that don’t go well, and just be in the water and it’s so peaceful, it’s so quiet,” she said. “And I love the feeling of that peacefulness every time I’m training.â€
Asked if she was swimming away from something. Harvey said, her eyes bright, “I feel like I’m swimming towards something.â€
And when the anthem rang out Monday, Summer McIntosh, who won her second gold in two days here, pulled Harvey up to the top step of the podium and they listened to ‘O Canada’ together, a song that belonged to both of them. When McIntosh swam her 200 IM semi Sunday night, it was Harvey whose ebullient personality relaxed her in the ready room. McIntosh did the right thing.
Canadians Summer McIntosh and Mary-Sophie Harvey share the podium at 🇨🇦ðŸÇ¿â€â™€ï¸
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics)
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“It’s really special,†Harvey said. “And I know she’s pushing the boundaries for swimming in general, and to stand alongside her is just something I will cherish for a long time.â€
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